Game Zone

Game Zone is a retro video game store at 270 Essex St in Salem, Massachusetts, and it is a video game shop first rather than a card shop. Pokémon is the one card game it carries, but the real draw is cartridges, discs and consoles from nearly every generation, along with a repair bench and a trade-in counter. It suits collectors and players hunting older hardware, anyone with a scratched disc or a dead save battery, and people who want cash or store trade for a pile of old games. It has been selling games since 1989 and is open every day of the week.

What's on the shelves

The core of the stock is retro. The store sells games and consoles from every generation, going back to the dedicated Pong consoles and the Odyssey. Atari 2600 and Colecovision cartridges are a staple, and the obscure systems turn up too, including 3DO and TurboGrafx. The store tries to keep a long list of systems in stock at all times, among them the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Atari Jaguar, Neo Geo and Game Boy Advance.

Current-generation consoles and games are sold as well, from the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 to PlayStation and Xbox One hardware. Accessories cover the older platforms: Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis controllers, Atari 2600 joysticks and Nintendo 64 controllers. The store also sells HD retro consoles, including the RetroN 5, which plays NES, Super Nintendo, Genesis, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridges through an HDMI output at up to 720p.

Pokémon is the only card game the store carries. Its Pokémon connection is mostly on the video game side, since fixing a copy of Pokemon Red that no longer saves is a standard job at the repair bench.

Repairs

A repair center handles many retro and current systems. Disc resurfacing is $6.00 and is done while you wait, on games as well as CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Other repair prices:

The battery replacement matters for older save-based games, since the small batteries inside many cartridges give out after 10 to 20 years.

Selling and trading

The store buys and trades used games and consoles for cash or trade. As a locally owned business, it sets its own values on games and systems, and prices change all the time. For cartridges, the things that lower an offer are cracks, marker, label damage and stickers. Original boxes and booklets raise it, and when they come along their condition matters too, and rarity counts for a lot.

Discs are judged on scratches and on whether the original case and booklet are included. For consoles, condition and completeness drive the price: bring all the original parts, and expect the offer to reflect how much cleaning the system needs. Original boxes and inserts are not required, but they add value.

Hours and getting there

The store is at 270 Essex St, Salem, MA 01970, and its Sunday hours match the rest of the week.

History

Game Zone started in 1989, before the Internet went mainstream, selling used games out of magazines such as GamePro and Electronic Gaming Monthly. Around 1992 the owners set up in a brick-and-mortar building in Salem, and the store has been a local fixture since.

The local scene

Several other stores sit within a short walk on the Salem side: Harrison's Comics and Pop Culture and Coon's Card & Gift Shop are each about 0.1 miles away, with The Magic Parlor and Silver Moon Comics & Collectibles about 0.2 miles away and Second Chance Video Games about 0.9 miles. For card shows, the Rockland Card Show is about 24.9 miles away with dates on November 7 and November 28, the Salem Derry Monthly Card Show is about 26.6 miles out on November 8, Lot of Cards' Thursday Night Show is about 35.4 miles out on November 19, and the Dover Sports Card Show is about 44.3 miles out on November 15.